Cotton-picking finger.



T. J. GRAY.

COTTON PIGKING FINGER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6,1908.

902,227., Patented Oct. 27, 1908 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

T. J. GRAY. COTTON PIGKING FINGER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE-6,1908.

- Patented Oct. 27, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

THOMAS J. GRAY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO HENRY E. BULLOCKAND JAMES E. BULLOCK, BOTH OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COTTON-PICKING FINGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 27, 1908.

Application filed June 6, 1908. Serial No. 437,136.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. GRAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana,haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Cotton-Picking Fingers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in cottonpicking fingers and is fully described and explained in thespecification and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is an elevation of my improved cotton-picking finger; Fig. 2 isa similar elevation showing the outer shell in a different position;Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the outer shell removed; Fig. 4: is avertical diametrical section through the outer shell; Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section in the line 5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is an enlargedvertical diametrical section through the lower portion of the finger;Fig. 7 is a plan view of the blank from which the barb member isconstructed; and Fig. 8 is an elevation of the completed barb member.

Referring to the drawings, A is a shaft preferably of smaller diameterat its lower end than at its upper end, a shoulder a being formed at theupper end of the reduced lower portion of the shaft. A circular block Bis driven up from the lower end of the shaft tothe shoulder a, the saidblock being fast upon the shaft and being hollowed out on its lower faceto form a ball-race b. A barrel C surrounds the lower end of the shaft Aand the said barrel carries a cone 0 at its upper end, confining betweenitself and the ball-race Z) a series of balls and the barrel carries atits lower end a ball-race which cooperates with a cone 0 screwed uponthe shaft A to confine a second series of balls. It will be obvious thatby this construction the barrel may be fixed in position in acotton-picker column, and that the shaft A and the block B theretosecured will be very freely rotatable. It will alsobe evident that thebearing construction is such that the balls are substantially protectedfrom the access of dirt and dust, with the result that the moving partsare given unusual freedom from wear. When the barrel is thus fixed inposition, the shaft may be rotated by any desired means such as are incommon use in cotton-picking machines. These devices are of such commonandvarious construction that I have not seen fit to illustrate anyparticular construction in the drawings, it being understood merely thatin practice the barrel C is fixed in position in the column and theshaft is rotated either continuously or intermittently, usually intermittently, in the ordinary way.

A barb member D surrounds the upper portion of the shaft A. The barbmember is stamped from sheet metal, the blank from which it isconstructed being shown in Fig. 7. The barb member comprises a series ofoppositely-stamped, centrally-disposed, semicylindrical yokes d whichfit and surround the upper portion of the shaft A. From these yokesproject radial webs d at the outer ends of which are other websextending in opposite directions from the two radial webs, said websbeing indicated in the drawings by (Z and being in cross-sectionarc-shaped. The arc-shaped webs d are provided with sharp barbs d alongtheir edges, these barbs extending in opposite directions with respectto the radial webs and consequently in the same rotary direction withrespect to the circle of the shaft A. The barb member D is preventedfrom rotation with respect to the shaft A by means of gears 03 at itslower end, which engage with a groove cut transversely of the uppersurface of the block B.

A sleeve E is slipped over the upper end of the shaft A and the barbmember D, the lower end of said sleeve fitting a slightly reducedportion at the upper end of the block B to make a substantiallydust-proof joint. The sleeve E is of larger diameter than the greatestwidth of the barb member and it is provided with twodiametricallyopposite grooves e stamped inward, the inner portions ofthe grooves being closer together than the greatest width of the barbmember. The grooves c are longitudinally slotted on their correspondingfaces for the passage of the barbs d as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5.The sleeve E is capable of a limited oscillation about its axis and isheld against longitudinal movement by a cap F slipped over the end ofthe shaft A and riveted in place, said cap having a reduced end fentering the end of the sleeve to center the same.

The operation of my improved finger is as follows: Under normalconditions, while engaged in picking the cotton, the shaft is rotated insuch a directionas to keep the barbs (Z moving forward. The sleeve Ewill naturally engage with the material upon which the picker is workingand its rotation will be retarded so that the barbs will pass throughtheir respective slots, the parts taking the position shown in Fig. 1.The points of the barbs will thus be exposed and will operate to engagethe cotton and pick it in the ordinary way. After the finger has movedout of the bush and the rotation of the shaft has been stopped for thestripping process, the upward movement of the cotton along the fingerwill cause a working action to take place between the barbs and theopposing face of the grooves 0 so as to rotate the sleeve forwardpositively. This rotation of the sleeve will strip the cottonautomatically from all the barbs, leaving it free to be movedlongitudinally of the finger readily and simply. Thus, the firstlongitudinal movement of any of the cotton engaged by the finger willdisengage the remainder of the cotton from the barbs, so as to make itsstripping extremely simple and easy. The moment the finger is set inrotation in the usual way and introduced again into the bush for pickingpurposes, the friction upon the sleeve will return it, causing the barbsto project in position to perform another picking operation.

It will thus be observed that I have a finger which lends itselfparticularly to the stripping action, which is simple, which can be verycheaply constructed after the necessary' tools are made in the firstinstance, which has a substantially dust-proof antifriction bearing andwhich in every way fulfils the practical requirements of a successfuland practicable cotton-picking finger.

I realize that considerable variation is possible in the details ofconstruction of my improved device, without departing from the spirit ofmy invention, and I do not intend therefore, to limit myself to thespecific formv herein shown and described.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a rotatable shaft having barbs to engage thecotton, of a sleeve perforated for the passage of the barbs andsurrounding the shaft, said sleeve having a surface opposed to the barbsbetween which and the barbs the cotton will wedge when movedlongitudinally, whereby a longitudinal strain exerted upon the cottonwill rotate the sleeve to positively strip the cotton from the barbs.

2. The combination with a rotatable shaft having barbs to engage thecotton, of a sleeve surrounding the shaft, said sleeve having a grooveperforated along one side for passage of the barbs, said sleeve beingrotatable with respect to said shaft, whereby, when the cotton is movedlongitudinally with respect to the shaft, it will wedge against theopposite side of the groove from the barbs and rotate the sleeve topositively strip the cotton from the barbs.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a rotatableshaft, of a sheet-metal web extending longitudinally of the shaft,oppositely-stamped yokes formed from the body of said web andsurrounding the shaft, barbs turned at an angle to said web, and asleeve surrounding the shaft and having a groove oneside of which isperforated for the passage of the barbs.

l. The combination with a rotatable shaft, of a sheet-metal web havingoppositelystamped yokes surrounding the shaft and non-rotatable withrespect thereto, oppositely-turned barbs along the edges of the web, anda sheet-metal sleeve having inwardly-stamped grooves on its oppositeside,

the corresponding faces of the grooves being perforated for the passageof the barbs.

5. The combination with a rotatable shaft, of a sheet-metal. webextending longitudinally thereof and provided with barbs, of a blockrigid upon the shaft near one end, locking means between said web andblock to cause the web to rotate with the block as motion is imparted tothe latter, and a sleeve surrounding the shaft and body-portion of theweb.

6. The combination with a rotatable shaft, of a barb-carrying member, ablock provided with a reduced portion and rigid upon said shaft near oneof its ends, a sleeve surrounding the shaft and provided withperforations to receive the barbs, one of the ends of the sleevesurrounding said reduced portion, and a cap provided with a reducedportion and surrounding the shaft at one end, the re duced portion beingadapted to enter the sleeve at one end and the cap adapted to be held inposition by the shaft.

7. The combination with a rotatable shaft, of a tapered sheet-metal webextending longitudinally thereof and provided with barbs and withoppositely stamped .yokes surrounding the shaft, and provided also withprojections at one end thereof, of a block, rigidly fixed upon the shaftnear one end and provided with slots adapted to receive saidprojections,said block having also a re duced portion, of a tapered sleevesurrounding the shaft and web and provided with perforations to' receivesaid barbs, and a cap onone end of the shaft having a reduced portion,said sleeve being adapted to surround the reduced portions of the blockand cap at its large and small ends respectively.

. THOMAS J. GRAY.

In presence of H. D. HAMMOND, A. H. BROWN.

